Chapter 4 #2
“Because I watched what happened to you!” he shouts as his control slips. “I saw the footage from that place. I saw what they did to you.”
The confession hits me like a physical blow, and I take an involuntary step back. “You… what?”
Aaiden’s expression shutters, the momentary crack sealing over. “We found surveillance footage when we raided the warehouse. I needed to know what we were dealing with.”
Cold spreads through me, numbing even the pain in my side. “You watched me being raped?”
He doesn’t answer, but the tightening of his jaw tells me everything.
“And now you can’t touch me because…what? I’m damaged goods?” The words scrape my throat raw. “I disgust you?”
“No.” The single word comes out sharper than he intended. He takes a breath, recalibrating. “Because every time I consider it, I see their hands on you. I hear your screams.”
“So this is about your comfort.” I laugh again, the sound bordering on hysteria. “Poor Aaiden Rockford, traumatized by watching a video. Imagine how I felt living it.”
His eyes flash, green fire beneath a thin veneer of control. “That’s not fair.”
“None of this is fair!” I slam my hand against my chest. “Why won’t you just admit you want me?”
“I do.” The words come out before he can stop them.
I freeze. “What?”
“I want you.” The words drop between us. “I have for a long time. But it’s not that simple, Jade. You’re younger and under my protection. There’s a power imbalance—”
“So instead you rejected me for years and left me vulnerable to someone else claiming me.” My voice cracks. “How’s that for protection?”
“Stop.” This time it’s not a request but a warning.
I push harder. “They claimed me instead. Repeatedly. For days. What you refused to take because of some noble bullshit, they took without asking.”
“Stop,” he says with a dangerous growl.
“No!” I reach out to shove him. He barely sways in place, so I shove harder. “While you were playing the gentleman, waiting for some magical, perfect moment that would never come, I was being held down and—”
“Stop!”
Aaiden’s hands lock around my wrists, and my entire body jolts with electric awareness. Every nerve ending where his skin meets mine blazes to life, sending heat spiraling downward, and my dick hardens with painful speed behind my zipper.
It’s the first time he’s touched me in months, and my heart hammers as a heated pulse starts low in my belly.
“Enough,” he orders, all gravel and steel, but I catch the slight flare of his nostrils as he scents my arousal. His grip tightens, thumbs digging into my racing pulse, large hands making my own feel delicate in comparison.
I can’t breathe. Can’t think. His pheromones crash over me in waves, Alpha musk filling my lungs until I drown in it. I want to bare my throat, to drop to my knees. I need the heat of his cock on my tongue.
“This is what you do,” I whisper with a whine I barely recognize. “You pin me down, then pretend you aren’t doing it.”
His jaw works, the muscle jumping beneath his skin.
This close, I can see the flecks of gold in his green irises, the slight shadow of stubble along his jaw despite his morning shave. All these imperfections, only visible from up close.
“Stop pushing,” he warns.
I should pull away. Should maintain whatever dignity I have left. But who cares about dignity?
I lean closer, testing the boundaries of his restraint. “Why? Afraid you’ll snap and take what you want?”
His lips part to drag in a breath of my arousal. “I’m warning you, Jade.”
“Do you think I’m scared of you? You’re not going to do anything.” I twist my wrists in his grip, leaning into the pressure instead of fighting it. “All you know how to do is walk away.”
Darkness shifts across his eyes, and his fingers tighten around my wrists to halt my movements.
“Stop,” he says again, his timbre dropping into an Alpha’s Command.
It wraps around me like an invisible collar, sliding down my spine and into my limbs. My muscles slacken, my body recognizing the authority of my Alpha despite him never claiming the title.
A needy whine escapes my throat, embarrassingly loud in the quiet office, and my body melts into the submission my Alpha demands. My head tilts back, exposing the unmarked skin of my neck.
Offering.
Begging.
Aaiden’s pupils dilate, and his pheromones thicken, heavy with need and possession. Beneath all his control and denial, he wants what I want.
“Aaiden,” I manage, the plea small and unlike anything that’s ever passed my lips.
His gaze drops to my throat and lingers there with naked hunger. Then, the door slams shut, and he releases my wrists, stepping back. The absence of his touch leaves me cold and unsteady.
He turns away, facing the window, his back rigid as he wrestles his instincts back under control.
The Command fades, but the memory of it lingers in my bones. His complete control over me should be terrifying. Instead, it awakens a desperate hunger inside. There was no anger under his Command, no dark pit of shame dragging me under. Only Aaiden, my Alpha.
And I want it again.
But then he goes and ruins it. “You’re not getting your weapons back until you’re recovered.”
The anger sweeps back in, and I raise both middle fingers at his back.
Aaiden turns to me again, composed except for the lingering darkness in his eyes. He ignores my visual opinion of his decision and moves to his desk. There, he opens a drawer and slides a thick file across to me.
“What’s this?” I demand, not touching it.
He taps the folder with one long finger. “Tony’s final holdouts. The last three properties he hasn’t abandoned. His remaining loyal associates. The shell companies that are still limping through operations. Everything from yesterday’s intelligence drop.”
I glare at the file. “Why are you giving this to me now?”
“Caleb is putting together a team for next week.” He remains unreadable. “You should be recovered by then.”
I flip open the file. The pages are sparse compared to previous reports, a thin documentation of a crumbling empire. A few haggard faces stare back from surveillance photos. Addresses circled in red. Notes about dwindling bank accounts.
“Why are we waiting a week to start?” I demand.
“This isn’t a one-man hit. We need time to organize and put together a team.”
“I don’t need a team,” I snap. “I don’t need Caleb’s reconnaissance.”
“This isn’t up for debate,” Aaiden says, edging toward an Alpha Command. “You will not go after them alone.”
I glare at him. “Watch me.”
His eyelid twitches. “I won’t let you put yourself at risk again.”
“You won’t let me?” I laugh in his face. “It’s my fucking job to be put at risk. Are you planning to imprison me?”
“That’s not what this is.” His jaw tightens. “This is about your safety.”
“No.” I slash a hand through the air. “This is about your need for control. Over me, over this situation, over everything.”
I draw my shoulders back. “You can’t have it both ways, Aaiden. You can’t refuse to claim me while acting as if you have the right to dictate my actions.”
“I’m the head of this family.” His shoulders square. “Everyone who operates under the Rockford name follows my rules.”
“I’m not a Rockford.” The words cut through the air between us. “You need to get that distinction clear in your head. I’m not one of your siblings oe cousins. Without a claim, I’m not anything to you.”
His mask falters, hurt peeking through. “Jade.”
“No.” I hold up a hand. “I’m done listening to your excuses. And I’m done waiting for you to decide I’m worth the risk.”
I turn away from him, heading toward the door. My side pulls with each step, but I ignore it. Pain is familiar territory now. It’s almost comforting in its consistency.
“If you try to leave the manor,” he says behind me, “I will stop you.”
I pause, hand on the doorknob, and look back over my shoulder. “Try.”
His eyes narrow. “Don’t do this, Jade.”
“Do what?” I turn back to him. “Take back control of my own life? I let you play my handler for months, Aaiden, but nothing has changed. I’m done playing your little game.”
“This isn’t about us,” he insists. “You need to finish healing if you’re not going to be a liability.”
My hand covers my wound, and he tracks the movement.
I storm back to him. “One week.”
“That’s all I’m asking for.” His shoulders relax. “As soon as Dr. Walton says you’re clear to work again, we’ll discuss the mission.”
I snatch up the folder. “Fine.”
He stiffens as he waits for the catch.
As he should.
I tuck the folder under my arm. “I’ll wait one week.”
For now.
The promise of blood settles the restlessness under my skin. It’s not peace, not even relief, but direction. A leash I’m willing to wear, as long as it leads somewhere that ends in someone else’s death.
Aaiden inclines his head once, as if this was always the outcome he expected.
Of course it was.
But as I turn toward the door, I make a vow of my own.
I’ll play by his rules.
Right up until the moment I don’t.